


She Changed Me

by UnholyHelbig



Category: Dickinson (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, High School, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:33:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21981454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnholyHelbig/pseuds/UnholyHelbig
Summary: Emily Dickinson's whole family has always been the best at everything. Her brother Austin is the Quarterback for the Eastside Hornets. Her Younger sister just accepted a full scholarship to a prestigious art academy in the city. And Emily? Emily is doomed to be stuck in second place- With a professional career in track and her father's pristine reputation on the line, Emily must navigate her unexpected feelings for the enemy.
Relationships: Austin Dickinson/Susan "Sue" Gilbert, Emily Dickinson/Susan "Sue" Gilbert
Comments: 32
Kudos: 174





	1. Chapter 1

**[A/N: Bear with me here, this will have a bit of a slow start considering I've never written these two before and have to get a feeling for them. But let me know what you guys think!]**

**The late summer** air clung to every inch of Emily Dickinson. Worming it’s way past the wicked fabric of her t-shirt and made it adhere to the small of her back. It made her crave some sort of cold, a dripping glass of lemonade doused with sugar, or a fan that oscillated and sputtered in its last effort to push around toxic air. Anything was better than this.

Her feet pressed against the colored concrete, shoes molding to the ground like it was their second home. Her lungs were burning but the same high coursed through her veins. The scent of artificial grass and sweat clung to her throat. Chalk stained the bottoms of her trainers as she made the last loop around the football field.

Emily slowed to a trot pulling her arms behind her head, trying to muster more soupy Amherst air. The other girls on the track team moved across the line a few moments after her, some bending with their hands on their knees while others laid down completely to slow their hearts.

“That was your best time,” Louisa panted next to her, handing over the dark green water bottle that was dripping with condensation. The timer around her neck was blinking at 4:50. Still not down twenty seconds like she wanted. Like she craved for the sake of her father.

“Not good enough,” She conjured a weak smile over the sound of her heart pounding.

She had been practicing day and night, taking the long jogs around her block with her watch counting down the second. The sun had barely broken when she got her start, streetlamps flooding the world with artificial light. It was somehow easier to keep time without all the commotion of the field and the other teams practicing. Void of the coach who would scream and the other girls panting around her.

She popped the cap off the water bottle and took four even gulps before her throat begged her to stop, knowing it would freeze solid otherwise.

Emily flinched at the sound of the Football coach blowing the whistle loudly at his team. Equally drenched in sweat. They took up most of the field, half of them shirts, the other half skins. The cheer squad struggled to keep their focus on the east section. Often stumbling over themselves each time a play was rendered.

She scoffed. Professional.

Her brother was beaming under the sun, running backwards as he shouted calls to the other boys. The beloved quarterback decked in black and gold. His cleats picking up clumps of grass. The ball always seemed to be in his fingers, their main play utilized his speed. The speed that Emily wishes she could inherit when it came to track and field.

“What are you talking about? You beat the other girls by almost a full minute.” Louisa said, taking the bottle back “You’re the best puzzle piece we have when it comes to relay. And your time is nothing but solid.”

“But it’s not 4:30” She pointed out, the two of them making the long journey against the edge of the field towards the locker room. Towards air conditioning. “And you know my father, the Dickinson’s must be the best.”

She was mocking his voice, making her pitch deeper and darker than her usual tone. Louisa cracked a smile. “But you hold the record time, Em. The best Eastside has the offer.”

Emily sighed heavily, holding open the door “There is a girl in Northgate.”

“Ohh, Is she cute?”

“Probably.” Emily hesitated, waving her free hand dismissively “I- that’s not the point. The point is, her time is immaculate, 4:25.”

Louisa let out a low whistle as they continued to the locker room. The cold air adhered her shirt to her skin. It made her feel uncomfortable and stiff. The long corridor echoed as the other girls on the team bustled with excitement. Each of them making plans for what to do after practice.

“as long as she has the best time in the whole state of Massachusetts, my father will think I’m a disappointment.”

Louisa cringed away from the statement as they all walked into the locker room. It was warm with steam from showers already starting to run. Easier to breathe in with the scent of chlorine from the nearby pool and floral soap mixed with too much body spray. “What do you know about her, then? Her weaknesses?”

“I have no clue,” Emily admitted, struggling with her combination. “I only know her name. Susan Gilbert.”

“Susan Gilbert?” The locker next to hers slammed shut, making her flinch.

Jane Humphry smirked devilishly, her towel in hand as she leaned against the now concrete wall. She had barely broken a sweat, blonde hair perfectly pulled back and skin unblemished. Each time she spoke it sounded like nails against the chalkboard to Emily. And yet- they had grown close throughout the years because of track. Long bus trips and shared quarters.

“My sister-in-law's second cousin said that she’s the head of the cheer team and the co-captain for track. All while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. The girl is some gorgeous robot that churns out perfection.”

“Oh? That’s nice.” Louisa mumbled out softly. “Don’t worry Emmy, we’ll get your time up.”

“Mm, doubt it,” Jane smirked and walked off towards the steam cloud situated in the showers. Sauntering with all she had to offer. “But good luck, _Emmy,_ You’re going to need it.”

As much as she despised Jane Humphry, she knew that the girl had a point. Bringing her time down by twenty seconds was hard enough. Had taken every ounce of her free time and energy to get where she was now. But cutting it down by .25 seconds? Nearly impossible.

Sue Gilbert had her beat in every way possible and it made her skin tingle in hatred, jealousy maybe. “You know, I’m going to head back out there. Maybe get in a few more laps.”

“Emily, you don’t want to push yourself too hard.”

“That’s exactly what I want to do Lou. Go and shower, I’ll be fine.”

She closed her locker and turned back towards the long hallway before her friend had a chance to object. Before she could say anything that would get in the way of a couple more times around the track. She had mentally checked off every time she took a long gulp of water. How hot it was actually outside- and she could survive.

Emily pulled her headphones from the pocket of her shorts as she entered into the frigid hallway, situating one earbud as she started to scroll through her multiple playlists, trying to find the right one to keep pace to.

The large metal doors that lead to the field opened and she didn’t bother to look up as the corridor flooded with light. Not when she heard the voice of the superintendent, or when she got bathed in the overwhelming scent of lavender and mint. It tickled the back of her throat, fresh but not uncomfortably so.

“Oh! Emily Dickinson- I was hoping I would catch you.” She looked up at the older man, his hair combed back over the slowly growing bald spot that would get thinner and thinner as the years when on. When Emily was a freshman, he had a full head of locks. He always wore a suit and smelled greatly of aftershave. He grinned at her now.

He wasn’t alone. Two other people were with him- a woman who looked about his age, pretty and polite. She had on a blazer herself, a lulu lemon bag slung over her arm with its vibrant pastel patterns. She didn’t’ seem deterred by its clear weight. She smiled out of obligation, her mousy brown hair falling into dark chocolate eyes. So shaded they were almost black.

And then there was the other girl, tall, a slight frame and fair skin- her features were sharp but not at all abrasive. Her hair was a medium length, flowing over shoulders that were pulled back proudly and with purpose. She had a bit of a triumphant half-smile that rubbed Emily the wrong way.

“This is the infamous Emily Dickinson?” She spoke in a voice that was slightly laced with a growl. Something that could be passed off as sheer shyness. Emily quirked a brow. “Oh, I’m so sorry, where are my manners. I’m Sue.”

She outstretched a hand and Emily eyed it like it was poison. “Sue as in, Sue Gilbert?”

“Yes, Emily.” Superintendent Rush spoke sternly, a warning growl. She took the girl's hand then, squeezing tightly. “Susan is transferring to Eastside. She’s going to become a Hornet and I expect you and the other girls to treat her as such. We’re just taking the tour around the grounds.”

Sue raked the pools of honey she deemed eyes over the entirety of Emily’s body, from the cut off running shorts all the way to the sweat-soaked t-shirt with a large bee on the front of it, stinger pointed and dangerously dripping with toxins. Emily pulled her touch back and shoved her hand in her pocket. Blaming a sudden rush of heat on a freak little elf that possessed fire powers.

“That’s great.” She sounded out. “Welcome to Eastside, Susan Gilbert.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this so far. Your feedback means the world to me!

**Emily stared at** her watch; each little hand outstretched it’s irony fingers towards the embossed roman numerals that decorated a white face. A Christmas present from her father a few years back. He had made a show about the velvet box and the fact that it was 75% real gold. Emily smiled and thanked him, breathing in the pine scent that wafted from the garland wrapped tree.

Later that night he pulled her into his study- his voice hushed as eggnog sloshed in his red party cup. The chatter from the family gathering was shut behind the storm doors and his breath stunk of alcohol. His office was cold, disconnected them from the cheer and happiness.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Emily had a bit of laughter in her voice. Maybe to unnerve the tight ball of twine in her stomach.

“I have another gift for you. One that I couldn’t tell your mother about. It’s in here somewhere-“ He was ruffling through his cabinets, then moved to the closet. “Damn it, I know it’s around here somewhere, ah-ha!”

The stoic man had nothing but giddy as he turned around with a black box, this one was embossed and had a fancy crest on the front that was unmatched. Not like the one the watch had come in. She instinctively moved her fingers up to it now, touch twitching against the gold.

He set it on the desk. “Go on, open it, Emily.”

She took a step forward and traced the crease of the case, it was cold compared to how scalding her hands felt, red with nerves. She slowly lifted the lid and peered inside. There was a set of four gold-rimmed glasses, each of them molded out of crystal and stamped with that same crest. There was a large and empty decanter that had similar gold etchings. Emily touched the top carefully, knitting her eyebrows together.

“Whiskey glasses?” She asked.

Her father hummed in response “My father gave them to me when I was your age, they’ve been in my study for a long time Emily. Hidden away of course. But I want you to have them.”

“I’m not… legal.”

“That’s alright Emily.” He chuckled “Just keep them safe until you have a place of your own like this.”

She had kept them safe. Had put them in the bottom of her closet under a duffel bag that she knew her mother would never touch, believing that its toxic nature would melt through her and reduce her to a puddle on the floor. Emily smiled at the little trick, tested it more than once when it came to a little recreational weed, and half-empty bottles of fireball leftover from team outings.

It was four o’clock now, and Emily figured that staring at the very watch that was always on her person, would get time to speed up. Football practice would let out and Austin wouldn’t rest his arm above the bleachers, hair sweaty as he smiled down at whatever cheerleader he had poached for a dinner at Lovecraft’s.

But there was no such luck, and Emily was starting to figure that walking the seven blocks home would be way faster than waiting for her older brother to swing by the art room to pull Vinnie from her work. Only to sit crammed in the backseat of his car, struggling to breathe.

Emily pulled her bag securely over her shoulder, shooting off a message to Austin saying that she was going to enjoy the nice breeze and walk home. The streets were quaint, lined with large oak trees that stretched their sun-starved branches to the sky. She could smell fall in the air- how cold Massachusetts would grow in the coming months.

She craved headphones- something to drown out the quiet and keep her on track as she walked. She could use the fresh air, the exercise. Anything was better than the sweaty backseat of Austin’s car. She would choke on the masculine scent and struggle to press her nose up against a window that didn’t’ quite open up all the way.

Their house was in a nicer neighborhood, one that had large porches and tire swings in the front yards. Pools that would be useable only for another two weeks. Carriage houses that usually sat empty and idle until an estranged relative had lost their balance and needed a place to stay for a couple of weeks while they found it again.

Emily Dickinson knew she was lucky- knew that her father had become a Politician by his own hand and hard work. It’s why he cared so much about his public image, why he craved the normalcy of a perfect family with straight A children and a wife who vacuumed up every single crumb. Even if it was all behind closed doors. Closed doors with secret cameras and spies to push discrepancies past their lips each time Emily slipped up; it was usually Emily who did.

There was a moving truck, backed into the driveway next to her house. An old and vacant Victorian that had to be fixed up more than anything. Austin still mowed the lawn in accordance with the Neighborhoods esteemed association of retired men and women who loved to police the outlying houses. But it was falling apart at the seams: The siding f peeling and the shutters in good need of a new paint job.

That place has been emptied for as long as Emily could remember- they used to joke about it being haunted, not only by the old lady who died in the living room but by her twelve cats as well. When times were simpler, they were dared to ring the disconnected bell or knock on the chipped door. Now it just seemed sad. 

She stopped by the edge of their mailbox, prying open the iron. It made her hands feel dirty, but still, she stayed at the base of the drive and thumbed through bills and promotions- just to see if she could get a good look at their new neighbors, maddened enough to buy such a place.

“Oh! No, try and get a grip on the other side.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect. If we can just get it up to the porch.”

Emily felt dread move the center of her stomach like a slimy eel with fangs that dripped with poison. A poison that clouded the water and slowly killed everything in its way. That voice- God she knew that voice, she had just heard the snide and proper voice in the locker room.

Susan Gilbert was holding the right end of a dresser, and someone from the moving company had a good grip on the other side. The company’s logo, the same one that was sprawled against the side of the truck, was stamped on the back of the fabric.

She watched carefully as they worked their way up the steps, Sue walking backward with a childish grin on her face. That was infuriating too- she decided, the fact that she was so calm and collected while doing physical labor like this. Annoyed at the heat and the ghost of a breeze that worked its way to her exposed skin. Her toned and perfect arms.

Emily took an instinctive stumble back as Austin pulled his beat-up Honda Civic into the driveway. He honked his horn loudly and hollered something out of the window. She regretted not waiting- regretted the eyes that were instantly on her as the dresser found a temporary home on the front porch.

“Emmy, why didn’t you wait!” Austin pushed the creaking door to the car open.

She felt her cheeks heat up. “I needed the air.”

Emily slammed the mailbox shut. Sue crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin from her perch behind the safety of her own fence. Emily moved to help Vinnie pull the large instrument case from the backseat. She didn’t’ know what it was today- but always secretly hoped that it would be a flute. It didn’t feel much like one.

“You left me alone with him and his terrible taste in music.” Her younger sister stated.

“That, I apologize immensely for.”

She ignored his noises of protest and walked up the brick steps. She waited for Austin to open the large door and cringed away from the cold of the foyer. Their home was silent, her mother flitting around in some area of the living or dining room. She never could guess which one. But every part of her craved going up the stairs and to the study where her father kept the older books.

Instead, she set the case down by the front door and rushed to the living room, her knees on the sofa and fingers peeling apart the lace curtains. She could still see the back of the moving truck- just barely enough room to get a peek at the neatly written words on the boxes and the way Sue moved as she grasped at them.

“What are you looking at?” Vinnie plopped down beside her, scrolling through her phone.

Austin answered for her “It’s who she is looking at. That’s the new girl at school, the track star that has Emily beat by 40 seconds.”

“It’s only by 25,” Emily stated, not peeling her eyes away from the truck. “And it won’t stay that way for long.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys... long time no see! Literally, It's been more than a year. I apologize! 2020 was a chaos-filled whirlwind and I don't know how time got this away from me. Anyway, let me know what you think!

**There was a** thin layer of frost on the front lawn. It was one of the first signs that the world was getting colder and the earth was spinning closer and closer to fall festivals and leaves that shifted colors. Emily liked this time of the year most, she could run faster when there was a certain crisp in the air. Her skin would prickle and the rubber soles of her shoes gripped the pavement better.

The sun had barely risen, but the day was already beginning to warm. She leaned forward, letting her one headphone hang against her sweatshirt as she pulled her toes up towards the sky. She felt her leg burn, sighed into the motion before lowering into a lunge.

Emily turned straightened up and flicked through the audiobooks on her phone. She opted for the annotated version of Romeo and Juliet- not because she was particularly a fan of Shakespeare, frankly, she thought he was a glitzy sell-out. But she was behind in her reading for English and just like running, her father would find out if anything slipped.

The first three laps around the neighborhood pulled at her chest, but she breathed through it, felt that familiar burn in her legs as sweat pooled against her collarbone despite the chill of the morning. She slowed to a trot by the north end of the neighborhood, moving her hands behind her head as she opened her lungs.

She had to get faster, had to focus her attention on the way her legs stretched. She hadn’t gotten any worse, but she certainly hadn’t gotten better.

Emily licked her lips and scanned the tree line; long evergreens that were fluffed up and teeming with the same frost as the rest of the neighborhood. They wouldn’t lose their leaves- not like the oaks and the willows. Movement caught her attention, and she removed one of her earbuds.

Sue Gilbert stood by a manmade path that had become overgrown. It leads straight into thickets of trees and eventually to a creek that Emily had stopped fishing in when she became old enough to realize that there was nothing but tadpoles anyway.

Her jaw clenched before she lifted a low-hanging branch and jogged into the foliage. Emily had half the mind to call after her. But that would spur something in their little suburb. _The Dickinson girl was calling to the robins again. She’s a lot- that one._

“Well, Fuck” She mumbled under her breath before giving Sue a few more moments.

Then she followed, cutting across the small spot where two yards met in the middle. She ducked under the branch and cringed away from the large melted drop of water that slithered down her back. Emily did her best to ignore it as her breath became entirely stolen away.

She had grown used to the world as it was; to the pristine asphalt and the HOA’s that sent dastardly letters at the sight of a plastic pink lawn ornament. There were fancy parties and cocktail shrimp that were somehow cold and hot at the same time- and pointy buttons that dug into her shoulder blade each time her father fastened her Sunday clothes with a new one.

This was another world entirely.

The path had thinned out, and it became easier to see the more she walked. Emily was careful enough to trail a dozen feet behind Susan Gilbert. It wasn’t hard, really, because the forest was captivating. She had forgotten how refreshing and thick the scent of dirt could be.

There were bright pops of color, hot yellows, and softer reds. The sun was rising above them, and it warmed the back of her neck. Her breath caught the rays as they neared the creek. She heard the audiobook switch into act two, the monotone voice of the narrator was muffled, but she made no move to flick it off.

“Are you following me?”

Emily nearly tripped over a rock. The mud under the feet suddenly felt much too slick and she grasped onto a nearby tree to stabilize herself. She had gotten so wrapped up in the atmosphere, in the scent of freshly melted frost, that she didn’t realize that Sue had stopped.

“No, of course not,” Emily lied, “This is a common path.”

Sue quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow “Really? You could have fooled me.”

She felt a strange type of heat pool under her eyes. But she had been running for a while now, and the girl from Northgate didn’t know what she looked like. Her cheeks could always be ashen for all she knew. But still, Emily couldn’t help but eye her, and her tight athletic pants.

“I needed some air.” She persisted.

Sue hummed and turned her back to Emily before she started to follow the path once more. Emily shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt and took a couple of large steps so her shoulder lined with the girl. They both smelled of sweat, cold sweat that had caught the elements.

“What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Exploring, I need to find a spot.”

“What kind of spot?”

“You ask too many questions.”

“I’m aware.” Emily stopped in front of a half-rotted log. Sue had one leg propped up as if she were about the heave the rest of her weight over it, but she had halted as well. “Look, you’re not going to find much out here. It’s runoff from the lake, a place people go to get a head high.”

“That’ll do just fine. If it’s away from everyone.”

She crawled over the log with grace where Emily had to brace it awkwardly. They both made it across to the line of water. Emily thought it was prettier than it used to be, half-lined with ice. She could hear the frogs stirring and maybe the spot had changed over the years because there was a significant lack of aluminum cans and glass bottles.

Sue had stopped again, her steely gaze trained on Emily. “I said, _everyone.”_

“Well, I’m not leaving. Who the hell knows what you need this privacy for, you might be shooting steroids for all I know.”

It was a low blow, but if she was, if she had somehow hidden a good amount of opioids in her many layers, then it would make it a lot easier for Emily to shatter her record. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared right back as if peering into a cracked mirror.

“You would right like that, wouldn’t you?”

“it wouldn’t hurt.”

“What I have is a natural talent, Emily. Some of us are born with it. And for all I’m concerned, we’re teammates now. I think I deserve a little trust.”

She didn’t’ want to live with it, she wanted to be the best. She wanted to run circles around her next-door neighbor without breaking a sweat- and yes, he knew it made her petty. But it didn’t matter because that red streak that cut across her brain was on fire with possibility.

“Only when you earn it,” She flopped down stubbornly on a nearby rock. She didn’t’ want to admit how uncomfortably cold it was.

“Mm, suit yourself, then.”

She lowered herself to the ground and pushed her back against a tree. It looked like the driest part of the forest. Sue closed her eyes then, hugging herself closer because it was cold, but nicely so. Emily watched her every move, the way her features looked softer in the sun. She had natural beauty and that annoyed and excited her.

“The world can be too much,” Sue said in a sigh, not opening her eyes “sometimes it’s nice to think.”

“You could do that anywhere,”

“I’d prefer it here. Wouldn’t you?”

Emily looked around and silently agreed. They felt cut off from the entirely of the world. She had grown used to the wetness of the rocks and the even scent in the air. Sue smelled of vanilla and spices. It made Emily’s nose twitch.

“I have to catch up on Romeo and Juliet.” Sue eventually opened her eyes after a long bout of silence “I’m majorly behind.”

“Don’t even bother. They both die in the end.”

Sue Gilbert cracked a smile, and it was dazzling, but Emily wouldn’t admit that. She supposed she could do the right thing, she could go home and shower and get ready for the brunch that her parents organized with a few council families. She stood and brushed the dirt off of her pants, ignoring the grainy feeling in her legs.

“I’ll see you at practice, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Emily breathed out “Enjoy your solitude.”

“I always do.”


End file.
